Transmission



P. E. MACK TRANSMISS ION Filed Dec. 27, 1938 Dec. 10, 1940- 2 Sheets-Sheet l All! Dec. 10, 1940. P. E. MACK v 2,224,309

TRANSMISSION Filed Dec. 27, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I drive from the crankshaft of the'engin'e to" the propeller shaft. This type of transmission was I will appear as the description proceeds; thisin-f to an intermediate position rendersthe driving Patented Dec IO, 1940 UNITED "Transmission Perry E. Mack, Milwaukee, F Wis Briggs '85 Stratton Wis., a corporationofD'elaivare Corporation,

.assignor to Milwaukee,

Application December 21,1 8, seri l No. 247,859

' .2 Claims e1 4 3 Y n have fP r past, chief among gears, speed reducers, a clutch, etc. Another type of transmission as that in which aj awclutch wasemployed to transmit the also found undesirable due to; the difiiculty of engagingthe clutch parts while the engine .was in operation and to the fact that no reverse was possible. v f

This invention, therefore, has as one of its objects to. provide a transmission of the character described which is extremely simple in design but which readily connects the propeller shaft with the drive'shaft for forwardor reverse;

rotation. f I 1 Another object of this invention is to provide a power transmission to the propeller shaftv whichv includes a friction member encirclingparts-of eachshaft to drivingly connect the same for re"- tationof the propeller shaft in a-forward?.di-, rection. Another object of this invention is to provide a 1 transmission of the character described in which the propeller shaft is capable of'movement to' ,ward and from the drive shaft and when moved broken ing dra motive wardly connection inoperative and establishes a. neutral condition.

Still another object of this invention is to providea. transmission of the character'des'c'ribed so constructed that cooperating parts on'each of the shafts are mutually engageable upon move ment of the propeller shaft toward the drive shaft beyond its neutral" position to establish a reverse driving connection for the propeller: shaft.

- A further object of this invention is to provide; manually operable means for readily shifting the propeller shaft with respect tog'the drive shaft to establish forward, reverse, and neutral? positionsthereofh With the above and other objects in view which Shaft.

the pro sa ks e e vention resides in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts substantially as hereinafter described, an

d more particularly dethe' invention constructed in accordance withthe best' r'nodezso far devised for the practical application'of theprinciples thereofl'and in which:

' -Figure lie '9, vertical sectional view through a 10 portionor a launch illustrating the transmission ofthis Figure 2 is an enlarged view in elevation showing part of the engine and the transmission in its neutral position with parts of the transmission Figure 3 is an end view shown in Figure 2;

c Figure 4 is a view similar the transmission in Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 2 illustrating the transmission in reverse position.

Referring parts, the only a portion of which is shown proximately in the c internal combustion iournalled in a stationary lever-dike members l4 flnedlbythe appended claims, it being understood at such changes in the precise embodiment of the-,.iherein-disclosed invention may be made as I come within-the scope of the claims. 3

..h jcomplete'example of the'physical embodiment of accompanying drawings illustrate one invention applied thereto;

away and in section;

of the transmission as to Figure 2 illustrating forward position; and

now particularly to the accompanywings, in which like numerals indicate like numeral 5 designates a small launch,

Mounted apenter of the launch is a small engine 6, which supplies the power-for the launch.

I'h e crankshaft l of the engine projects rear-.-

a short distance through the crankcase 8 to. beconnected with a propeller shaft 9 through appwer transmission indicated generally by the numeral l0. As will be hereinafter more fully described,

mits power to the propeller I the boat in a forward or reverse is operable to a neutral propeller shaft is disconne the power transmission selectively transshaft for propelling direction and position in which the cted from the-crank- 'The rear end. offthepropeller shaft 9fis 40 bearing H and mounts peller l2.

1 At its forward end, adjacent to theicrankcase and directly beneath the crankshaft, the propellershaftt' is supported in a universal bearwhich comprises two complementary" and I5 having a ball and connection l6j between them. medially of th'eiia'ends and-in which the-end or the propeller I shaft 9 issuit'ably journalled as by a ball' bearing-'60 I11 The members] {and r I 5. aresecurely'held to.- in spaced apart relationshipby rivetsor other securing means. .|8.. I g

Thesbearing l3 i'smounted for bodily move-- ment ma plane-substantially perpendicular to v the axis of the propeller shaft to carry the front end of the propeller shaft toward and from the crankshaft. It is to be understood that the propeller shaft is of such length and diameter as to permit the same to be flexed as required for movement of its front end toward and from the crankshaft.

In the present construction,'one end of the bearing i3 is pivotally connected, as at I9, to a support secured to the crankcase so that the bearing has a swinging or oscillatory movement which is guided by a guide 20 projecting down from the crankcase and disposed between the members l4 and IE5 at the free end of the bearing.

Bodily movement of the bearing I3 is produced by a lever 2| pivoted to the upper end of the guide 20 and connected with the free end of the bearing by a link 22. The long arm 2l-' of the lever forms a handle by which the lever is moved about its pivot, while its shorter arm 23 has the link connected thereto as by passing a lateral projection 23 thereon through a hole in the free end of the arm 23.

The means for transmitting driving force from the crankshaft to the propeller shaft includes pulleys 24 and 25 fixed to the crankshaft and the propeller shaft, respectively, and about which a friction belt 26 is trained. The belt 26 is of such length as to hang loosely about the pulley 25 when the propeller shaft is in its normal unflexed position parallel to the crankshaft. With this position of the parts, the transmission is in neutral, as clearly illustrated in Figure 2; and as long as the propeller shaft remains unflexed, the neutral position will be automatically maintained.

Movement of the handle 21 to shift the bear ing downwardly carries the forward end of the propeller shaft away from the crankshaft and engages the pulley 25 with the friction belt 26 to drive the propeller shaft for forward propulsion of the launch.

In effecting this flexure of the propeller shaft, the connection between the lever 23 and the link 22 is carried past dead center which occurs when the lever passes beyond alignment with the link. Hence, by limiting the motion of the lever at this point, the resilience of the propeller shaft releasably maintains the transmission in its forward setting. To so limit the motion of the lever, the projection 23' strikes the adjacent edge of the guide 20.

Movement of the lever 2| to shift the bearing upwardly carries the forward end of the propeller shaft toward the crankshaft and engages the periphery 29 of the pulley 25 with the periphery of a plurality of friction discs 30 which are carried by the crankshaft pulley 24. In this manner, the forward driving connection between the shafts is rendered inoperative, while the reverse connection becomes operative, the propeller shaft being driven directly from the crankshaft.

' The hub 3| of the pulley 24, which is securely fixed to the crankshaft, has its rearwardly extending end reduced in diameter to form a shoulder 32. Slidably received on the reduced end portion of thehub 3| is a flange 33 which engages the shoulder 32. To facilitate replacement, the discs 30 which have a substantially high coefficient of friction are removably secured on the hub bufiange 35 fixed to the outer end of the hub by screws 36. The flanges 33 and 35 are larger in diameter than the friction discs 30 and thus serve to positively retain the belt 26 on the pulley.

For reverse" operation, it is desirable to insure the presence of the operator; and to this end, no provision has been made to lock the parts in reverse" position. Such operation entails the lever being held back by the operator.

While the transmission of this invention has been described as transmitting power from the drive shaft of an internal combustion engine to the propeller shaft of a launch, it is desired to point out that it is equally well suited for use on many other types of power drives where the torque of the drive shaft is not too high.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that this invention affords a simple inexpensive and easily operated transmission for use with small launches or other power operated devices.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In combination: a pulley; a one piece resilient shaft; bearings journalling the shaft with a free end portion of substantial length yieldingly held by its own resiliency in a neutral substantially straight line position; another pulley on said end of the resilient shaft opposite the first named pulley, said pulleys having friction sur-.

faces engageable upon flexure of the resilient shaft out of its neutral straight line position to establish a one direction driving connection between the flexible shaft and the first named pulley; a belt encircling the pulleys, said belt being loose when the resilient shaft is in its neutral unflexed position; means for flexing the resilient shaft in a direction away from the first named pulley to tighten the belt about the pulleys and establish a reverse driving connec.

tion between the flexible shaft and. the first named pulley; and means for forcing the resilient shaft out of its neutral straight line position against the resiliency thereof to establish said driving connections.

2. In a transmission of the character :described: a fixed shaft; another shaft of such proportions and material as to be substantially resilient to permit a degree of lateral flexure thereof while tending at all times to remain in an axially straight unflexed position, said other shaft having a free end adjacent to the fixed shaft; a bearing for the opposite end of said other shaft; means for reversibly drivingly connecting said shafts comprising, pulleys on said shafts and a belt encircling the pulleys; the length of the belt and the resiliency of said other shaft being such as to normally maintain its pulley disengaged from the belt and the pulley on the fixed shaft so that the driving connection between the shaftsis inoperative; means for flexing said other shaft in a direction to tighten the belt about the pulleys and thereby establish a one direction driving connection between the shafts, such flexing of said other shaft being opholding said other shaft in said flexedpositiou thereby maintaining said one direction driving connection between the shafts operative.

' PERRY E. MACK. 

